(Kingston) A defrocked Oblate priest and convicted sex offender faces eight new criminal charges for sexual assaults he allegedly committed while living in Nunavut.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) of Iqaluit say Eric Dejaeger was arrested Wednesday in Kingston, Ont., on a Canada-wide warrant.
According to police, he will be transported to Iqaluit to appear before the Nunavut Court of Justice.
The RCMP gave no details about the time and location of the alleged assaults, but said the charges stem from investigations conducted between 2011 and 2015.
Dejaeger, who was born in Belgium and became a Canadian citizen in 1977, has previously been convicted of numerous sexual offences.
He served part of a five-year sentence beginning in 1990 for sex crimes against children in Baker Lake, Nunavut, committed between 1982 and 1989. After his release, he learned that the RCMP were investigating his activities. in Igloolik, and fled to Belgium. He was extradited to Canada in 2011 for immigration violations.
In 2015, Dejaeger was sentenced to 19 years in prison for 32 crimes he committed against Inuit children and some adults between 1978 and 1982 in Igloolik. Convictions included indecent assault, forcible confinement and bestiality.
Dejaeger had pleaded guilty to eight counts and was convicted of 24 other counts, mostly against children between the ages of 8 and 12. The details of the crimes were so appalling that the judge’s sentencing came with a warning.
Later in 2015, he was also convicted of child sex crimes in Alberta, to be served concurrently with his sentence for the Igloolik charges.
He was released on statutory release in May 2022 after serving two-thirds of his sentence. His parole included numerous restrictions, including that he not be around children without a guardian present and that he pursue therapy for sexual deviance.
Reverend Ken Thorson of the Oblates of Mary Immaculate Lacombe Canada said they “condemn any act of sexual abuse”.
“At this stage, we have not yet been contacted by the police, but we are fully committed to cooperating with the authorities as this process continues,” Thorson said in a statement.
“Clergy abuse is a tragedy, and we are deeply sorry for all survivors who have been harmed by Eric or any other Oblate, Catholic priest or religious leader. »